With the New Year comes opportunities to focus on change! Unfortunately the commitments tend to erode rapidly. I began my workout routine commitment two weeks post my arthroscopic knee surgery in early December. I am trying to get a jump start on the hordes that arrive the first week of January every year. I will resist erosion!

Now the commitment to the(my) midsection and general overall health. I intend to drop at least 15% of my body weight by summer……. of 2019! Yes, this year! I see the doctor for my annual wellness check in a couple of weeks and I know he will talk to me about the above mentioned 15% goal! He will probably suggest a little more, LOL.

I have been taking a tablespoonful of organic vinegar and my raw honey on a regular basis. One of our regular honey buyers was picking her order and mentioned “Fire Coder” as a healthy elixir. She swears by it so, I decided to make my own. Read a little below for anticipated health benefits.

My batch…….sadly, it will be 4 weeks in the making so I won’t be able to critique it, but, I ordered a bottle from Mountain Rose Herbs to get started with the regimen prior to mine being ready.

Recipe;

1/2 cup grated ginger root

1/2 cup grated horseradish root

1 medium onion chopped

10 cloves of garlic crushed or minced

2 jalapeños chopped

Zest of one lemon plus the juice

2 tbsp dried rosemary

1 tbsp turmeric- I used 3 tbsp of fresh ground turmeric root

1/4 tsp cayenne

Apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup raw honey- added after filtering the mixture at the end of 4 weeks to desired sweetness- may take more than 1/4 cup.

I added the ingredients to a wide mouth quart jar, used the canning jar funnel to reduce my mess, filled the jar with Braggs organic apple cider vinegar leaving enough room to be able to shake and mix the stuff up. I used parchment paper as suggested under the lid. It will prevent the vinegar from attacking the metal jar lid, I will probably buy some plastic lids for mason jars in the future.

Shake daily, store in a dark place, my pantry closet works well. At the end of 4 weeks strain through cheese cloth and wring out the damp clump. Mountain Rose suggests using the squeezed out ingredients in a stir fry.

Take a shot per day and more of sniffles are coming on. I will start a second batch in two weeks to keep the cycle going. Sorry Mountain Rose, but I will be on my own after the store bought bottles used,

All ingredients except for the organic apple cider vinegar are in the quart jar.

The canning funnel makes it easier to load the ingredients as well as topping off with the vinegar.

Showing the head space needed to provide room for the daily shake and agitation.

FYI, I haven’t abandoned my garden nor my bees, but the right knee has been killing me so it was cleaned out in early December. I have beets, carrots, radishes and turnips planted. A few Meyer lemons are on the tree and I am abandoning my attempts to grow bananas.

Like this:

I left my home in Kingwood Texas on November 4th, off to Bakersfield California to earn a few dollars. Bakersfield is my home town. I was able to share time with family and friends. The contracted work covered two different clients, both located in Bakersfield. During the second week I took my work buddy off to an iconic restaurant in east Bakersfield, Noriega’s. Basque food, good company, family style seating and less than 6 degrees of separation! In walks my sister’s father-in-law, earl. The seating is by group and Earl was seated next to me. Small world , eh?

Back to home again, I spent two days with my oldest daughter, and her family in Camarillo – husband, grand-kids and my great-grand-son favored me with a few gentle kicks from the warmth of the womb! I am really enjoying being called grandpa…it has a nice sound to it and makes me feel so welcome. Then up the California coast to my mother’s home. I told her that I would arrive at 5:00 and she becomes a little anxious if I am late. Fortunately I made good time.

Fortunate, because as I checked my photographer’s ephemeral I saw that sunset was 4:55 for her location. The clouds along the coastal drive looked promising as a nice backdrop for a sunset. The clouds began to thin as I drove north and by the time I turned off toward Los Osos they were pretty much absent. I took a chance and headed to the bay. I was rewarded with a nice golden sunset and some nice folks to chat with as the sun dipped below the horizon before heading off to mom’s home.

The photo seems to have captured what the eye saw. The eye is still superior to the camera, but today they were well matched.

Mom and I head off to Houston and Kingwood tomorrow, to my other home. I get to share her with my family and friends, if only for a little while before she heads back home. I am so fortunate!